Monday, December 10, 2012

Dinner with friends, part 1.

I had a social sort of few days.  One night, I made dinner for a friend's birthday - lemon shrimp pasta, salad, bread and coeur a la creme with raspberries and chocolate stars for dessert.  I had a heck of a time making the candle stand up in the cream on her plate, but what's a birthday without it?
Another night and another friend had me heading downtown.  From Thanksgiving through New Year's, I think, there's a covered ice rink on the walking mall, and lights everywhere. I had time to kill, so I looked in the little stores and took pictures.
When I stopped in front of this pub, a man sitting at one of the tables outside smiled at me and said, "That's right, this is the place!"  I should have let him buy me a beer.
On the other side of the square, a man was caught up in the holiday spirit and danced to Christmas music on a boom box. Some of the ice skating kids had stopped and were watching him twirl in his strapless scarlet dress.
We ate outdoors. It was a beautiful night - never even warm enough to put on the jacket I'd brought with me. I got fish tacos and a piece of cheesecake. My friend and I split a bottle of a red zin-syrah blend and talked until they were shutting down. She and I seem to close places down when we meet - we never run out of things to talk about.

35 comments:

  1. what a cool little downtown...i love going int he shops...we were downtown saturday ourselves....they were doing free horse drawn carriage rides...mmm raspberries....

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    1. The horse-drawn carriage rides are fun - they did that hear one year and my son and I went.

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  2. Oh that birthday dessert looks wonderful, as does your downtown. I have a few friends that I can close places with, they are treasured!
    XO
    WWW

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  3. " a man was caught up in the holiday spirit and danced to Christmas music on a boom box. Some of the ice skating kids had stopped and were watching him twirl in his strapless scarlet dress."

    OMG...I would have killed to see that! And I bet he was faaaaaaabulous too! Love the red dress!!!

    Sounds like you had an awesome time with your friends. And wherever you live, it looks like a really cool place, judging from your photos. What a great downtown area!

    I have a feeling you would be fun to party with!

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    1. It was great - he was completely unconcerned with the audience and I was tickled.

      Thanks! I love the idea that I'd be fun to party with!

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  4. What is to the right of the fish taco? The coeur a la creme also looks good, and low calorie, no doubt. Good fish and shrimp tacos are one of my favorite things, and not available up here.
    Sounds like you have a fun social life, good for you.
    Cheers.

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    1. That was a pile of sliced cabbage and chopped tomatoes with a spiced sour cream. And no, the coeur a la creme is pure decadence, but you only eat a little of it at a time!

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  5. Food looked and sounded delicious!! Sounds like a lovely night with your friend; what a wonderful gift to have a friend like that who enjoys good food and great conversation through the evening!! Looks like a really nice place you live by; must be fun to explore it any season of the year, but especially with the magic of Christmastime!

    betty

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    1. I am lucky to have several friends who I have that sort of relationship with. And yes, it is a nice place to live.

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  6. I'm glad I don't wear red dresses. It just seems the extra expensive of cross dressing wipe out all my savings and beer money. I can't dance too great anyway and my legs are thin. I'm going to start singing that song.
    http://youtu.be/KE4HGlmtOcg

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    1. He seemed so into it that maybe the expense of the dress was worth it.

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  7. So much holiday spirit. Makes the dark days fun.

    I've never had fish tacos. Are they good?

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  8. Those kinds of friends where you can just talk and talk endlessly are the best! The food wasn't bad either!

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  9. My Christmas social life has also begun-last Friday work party, this weekend - busy with meetings:) no time for preparations...
    Blog about life and travelling
    Blog about cooking

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  10. You ate outdoors. At night. In December.

    Shoot me.

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  11. Good times. I love being out at night and seeing all the lights. We had a 61 degree evening last week, so my spouse and I took a walk in the neighborhood at 8 pm. It was fabulous.

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    1. It has felt more like early fall than early winter, doesn't it?

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  12. Looks like a couple of fantastic evenings. The dessert you made looks absolutely delicious -- and so does the guy in the red dress! What a fun downtown wander. Glad you still able to enjoy beautiful weather AND Christmas lights at the same time.

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    1. Me, too - nice to be able to enjoy it all without freezing.

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  13. Nights to be cherished, I'm sure. Sounds like they were more than wonderful.

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  14. 'Tis the season to be social! Your pictures make me want to drive around and look for some nice light displays...and eat some fish tacos :)

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  15. I agree, the dessert looks amazing. And the guy in the red dress seems to be really enjoying himself! He looks pretty good in a dress!

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  16. Looks like your having a lot of good times and some awesome meals. Way to go and I love the lights. So that's a man in that dress, very interesting :)

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    1. Yes, I've been trying to pack in some friend-time lately. And the man in the dress was fun to watch.

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  17. oh...that dessert.....napkin pleaase! i may short out my keyboard with my drool!

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  18. I am mesmerised by that dessert. Did you make those chocolate stars? They look like a wonderful touch to finish off the dessert.

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    1. No, I bought the stars at Trader Joe's. They are my new favorite cookie.

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